Stiffer fine pushed vs Alno dumpsite contractor

CONTRACTOR of the delayed cell three construction of the Alno Engineered Sanitary Landfill is under fire anew as members of the La Trinidad Municipal Council has requested a reassessment of the project.

In bid to seek bigger penalty, officials have told the Municipal Engineering Office to go over their computation for the fine to be imposed on Mark Polo Engineering and Construction.

But based on the computation of the engineering office, only P16,000 will be charged to the company for the delay of the project, which started sometime in February this year.

The P7 million rehabilitation project was supposed to be completed June 28 but due to unknown reasons, the development has yet to be completed after the contractor has requested for additional five-month extension.

Councilor Nestor Fongwan Jr., who also chairs the committee on natural resources and environmental protection and solid waste management, questioned the penalties and asked for the engineering to copy furnish the council with the assessment report.

“How did the engineering office arrive at this penalty or charges while all we know they have been so delayed,” Fongwan said.

Fongwan added the contractor should have been fined with a bigger amount as the holdup costs the LGU with millions of public funds for paying private haulers, which carry waste to Tarlac.

“We want a copy of how the Engineering (office) arrived to only P16,000 as penalty. You should make a report on that or maybe go over it because it seems there is some kind of error here,” Fongwan said.

In an earlier Municipal Council session, members of the council have already raised the option of banning contractors in the future projects who always delay government projects.

As of July 15, the Alno cell 3 dump is already 63.55 percent complete, as scraping of the landfill is currently ongoing.

Meanwhile, Municipal Engineer Benedict Pineda said the banning of construction firms will undertake legal process and cannot be easily imposed by the LGU.

“May process kasi yan, may mga policies dapat na talagang i-prove na nag-kulang ang contractor sa pag-attend sa project na na-award sa kanya. So kung titignan yung suggestion to ban them for future projects mukhang mahirapan tayo na i-impose yan sa kanila,” Pineda said.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph